An Elementary Level Mission
by Nekochild08
Summary: My first fic. Follows the first mission assigned to my original character Aisha, which is to use her small size to infiltrate a 1st grade class and gather intel on the teacher. Canon characters make appearances as well, but only for social conversations.
1. Chapter 1

"I HAVE TO DO WHAT?"

A young girls' upset voice echoed through the halls of the Social Welfare Agency's dorm building. In the room, the source of the voice came from a small girl who was red in the face and not looking happy at all. In front of her stood a man of roughly thirty-two years of age. With brown eyes, short black hair, and a slightly muscular build, Kenichi looked down at the girl with a frown on his face. The girl herself was eight years old, though she looked six, had a thin frame, red eyes and long blue hair. Her face was flushed, both from embarrassment and anger from what she had just been told. Remaining calm and keeping a neutral look on his face, Kenichi replied to the small girl.

"It's orders from above and you know how much you've been looking forward to going out on your first mission. Now's your chance to prove yourself to the others and personally, I think it's perfect for you Aisha."

This didn't encourage Aisha one bit but even she knew that she was supposed to do as she was ordered, even if it meant something as horrible as this. Being a new cyborg, it was her job to train as hard as she could so that she could become an asset to the Social Welfare Agency as quickly as possible. For the past half-year she had trained with Kenichi, her handler, in various tasks such as infiltration, martial arts, marksmanship, and dealing with explosives such as grenades. She was saved from death and turned into a natural killer, little by little, and now the Agency's decided that she was finally ready for her first mission but it wasn't like Aisha had been expecting.

"I can't believe they're making me do something like this..I mean, it's good that they trust me enough to do this alone but why do I have to be the one to do THIS job?" Her tone was very annoyed at this point.

It was obvious that she was upset at what she was ordered to do. Normally quiet and calm, it was actually surprising that she was raising her voice in such a way, especially to her handler. It was expected though, since everyone who knew Aisha knew that she was especially sensitive about her short stature and when someone with a personality like that is told that they have to go to first grade because they're the only person young looking enough, sparks are naturally going to fly for a little bit. Kenichi, who was always calm and reserved but also strict when it came to her training, was allowing this outburst since he knew that it was best that she let it out now, rather than later. He was actually fighting back the urge to chuckle since Aisha looked absolutely adorable at the moment. Maybe he would tease her some more from now on, just to get that look every now and then. He grinned a little at the thought before replying to his cyborg.

"You know you're the only one that's..suitable for this kind of job. We've determined that the best way to getting this guy is getting someone on the inside and since he has a job teaching at the elementary school, you'll be able to slip in with no problems at all. Now no more complaints or I'm going to have you out on the range until dawn."

'This guy's' name was Romero Trencino, a low level member of the Blue Phoenix faction. The Blue Phoenix's had made their names known roughly half a year ago after the attempted assassination of the Prime Minister, leaving four bodyguards killed and multiple people wounded. Not much was known about the faction and the participants of the assassination had either escaped or been killed, but it was obvious that they targeted the government for reasons of their own. The SWA wished to learn those reasons, so they actively searched for possible members. Half a year later, they found a member: Trencino. They couldn't let this chance go to waste, so they were sending Aisha to learn everything she could about both Trencino and the faction that he was a part of. Because it was now Friday, she had two days to get 'in character' before she was sent to school. They even had the elementary school uniform ready for her and it was hanging in her closet. Aisha was now looking at it with a frown on her face. She was about to say something when Kenichi spoke up before her.

"You have plenty of time to get ready for your mission so use it effectively. Remember, you're going to be going in as a normal six year old girl. You're already innocent looking enough so all you have to do is think about how you're going to talk to others. I know you're quiet normally so that might help you but you're going to have to speak up to ask questions, and to answer them." He grinned a little bit as he teased. "You do remember what two plus two is right?"

"O-of course I remember!" Once more, Aisha flushed and answered her handler. "I know it's four!"


	2. Chapter 2

It was now night time in the SWA and Aisha was sound asleep but something was causing her to toss and turn in her bed. Sounds of discomfort and fear could be heard coming from the small girl. Dressed in blue one-piece footie pajamas, her favorite ones, she looked like she was in pain as her hands tried to grip her blanket for comfort. Once she had it tucked against her body, she looked a little calmer but she still showed signs of restlessness.

In her dream, she was much younger, about seven or so, though she looked an early six physically. She had always looked a few years younger than she was as she grew and it was something her parents were concerned about but the doctors had told them it was nothing to worry about. Lying in her bed fast asleep, she was woken up by the sounds of yelling in the room next to her. There was yelling and screaming and then after two strange sounds, it became quiet. Curious, the small girl climbed down her bed and then left her room. She was just opening the door when she felt a sharp pain in her body, followed by two more that felt like fire. It was the worst pain that she had ever felt before. Even worse than the time her daddy had spanked her for trying to lift up his prized bowling ball.

Everything went black after that and Aisha woke up in her bed, her pillows soaked with tears. To her, she knew she had just had a bad dream but despite her photographic memory and all her efforts, she just couldn't recall the events. It was something that bothered her, but didn't really get to her. Things became better now and that was all that mattered to her. Besides, it couldn't have been very important if she couldn't remember it.

Aisha got her body under control after a few deep breath's and then hopped off of her bed, heading for her closet. Her eyes looked to that elementary school uniform before quickly shifting away to her long blue sundress. It was something that Kenichi had bought her on a whim. He never explained why, but she wasn't going to complain about it since she loved to sit on the grass outside near Claes' flower garden and just look up at the sky in it. It was morning and only a little chilly but she knew she could handle it. It was supposed to be really warm today after all.

Changing into the sundress took no time at all and after she put her dirty clothes into the hamper, she headed out the door, where she bumped into one of the other girls.

"Ah! I'm sorry. I wasn't looking in front of me!"

Aisha quickly apologized and then looked up. In front of her was an older girl with short brown hair, brown eyes, and had a body that Aisha wished that she had right now. Henrietta was smiling a little before she said.

"It's okay Aisha. You're okay right?"

Henrietta was like a big sister to Aisha, probably because Henrietta herself was the official 'little sister' of the group. Taking no time to reply, Aisha said with a nod.

"Y-yeah I'm fine. Good morning Henrietta. Oh, I'm heading out to the garden to look at the sky right now, want to join me?"

Henrietta shook her head a bit before saying. "Not today, sorry. Jose wants me to see him at the range so we can go through the room clearing course again."

Aisha nodded and then said. "Ah, I see. Have fun then!"

With that she headed over to the exit while waving goodbye to Henrietta. She liked spending time with her but maybe she would be able to think more about her assignment alone. Once she was outside, she felt a strong breeze and quickly covered her eyes from the inevitable dust that the wind usually carried. Once the wind died down, she made her way to Claes' garden and then took a seat next to the vegetables before sprawling out on the grass and letting out a small sigh. Aisha loved this spot, not only because the grass was nice and soft, but the smell of the vegetables was definitely the best. Looking up at the now blue sky, she started to talk to herself in a calm voice.

"I still can't believe this is my first mission but..this is a really important mission I guess. If I'm able to talk to this guy and learn about him and his faction, I'll be able to bring him in and then we'll learn more about the Blue Phoenix. I guess I'll just have to grin and bare it."

Time always passed by quickly whenever she went sky watching and before she knew it, it was time for lunch. Getting up from her spot on the grass, she hurried over to the cafeteria. The food here was great, or at least she thought so since she had been eating it for as long as she could remember. Today's lunch was Salisbury steak, vegetables, and apple sauce for her. The cooks always gave her something sweet for her meals for some reason. She would have never guessed that it was because she looked absolutely adorable eating her sweets.  
Looking around, she found an open table, where one of the older cyborgs was enjoying her meal. Aisha sat down with her and started to eat her steak quietly until the older cyborg addressed her.

"Good afternoon Aisha. I haven't seen you all day, where have you been?"

Looking up, she smiled at the cyborg. She had long blond hair that always seemed to be tied into twin-tails on both sides of her head, blue eyes, and a somewhat mischievous smile on her face. Before Aisha could answer, Triela continued.

"You were probably at the garden taking another nap huh? Kids do need their rest after all."

Aisha knew that she was playing, since most of the cyborgs loved to poke fun at her, just for her reactions. Not letting her down, she pouted and said.

"I-I wasn't napping! I was looking at the sky and thinking of my first mis-" She stopped there but she could already tell that it was too late for her. A few of the cyborgs at the other tables looked at her in surprise and Triela said with a cheerful smile.

"Ah, you're getting your first mission finally? Congratulations. What do you have to do? Assassinate someone?"

Blushing heavily, Aisha shook her head and said quickly. "N-no nothing like that.." She paused, and Triela noticed this.

"Well, go ahead and tell me then."

"W-well. I kinda have to..infiltrate into somewhere and gather information on someone." She was trying to be as vague as possible but Triela wasn't having any of that.

"Details! Come on, you have to tell us more than that. So you're getting a recon mission. Where are you infiltrating and who are you getting information on?"

It was over. She knew she couldn't escape this. If she ran, Triela would definitely be able to catch her and she would be subjected to the worst tickle torture ever until she spilled the beans. She could have sat alone but she had been the one to sit with Triela so she should have known that something like this would be inevitable. Wanting to keep this a secret, she leaned forward and gestured her to lean in too. Once she was sure the others couldn't hear, she said.

"F-first grade..Elementary School..."

Triela tried to hold it in. It showed that she was holding it back but it was too much for her to handle before she burst out laughing. She had to hold onto the table to keep herself from falling off of her chair. Aisha's face couldn't possibly get any redder and she took this opportunity to make her escape but before she could make it her arm was grabbed by Triela, who was still trying to get herself under control. Aisha considered struggling, but then decided against it. Triela was a demon at tickle torture.

"Aw come on now, I'm sure there's a good reason for it right? Besides, you forgot your veggies." Aisha hated her veggies and once more, everyone knew it.

"I don't like them, you know that! Besides, this is a really important mission. If I can bring this guy in then it will bring us that much closer to learning about, and destroying, the Blue Phoenix."

Triela was actually surprised by this since she knew that Blue Phoenix had been a thorn in the side of the SWA ever since the failed assassination attempt on the Prime Minister but no information was found on them, until now. Triela looked at Aisha and said with a grin as she released her arm.

"That's great. Do a good job and they'll probably let you have more exciting missions soon after. You might even be able to attack Blue Phoenix itself once we find their hideout."

Aisha hoped that Triela was right on that since she wanted an exciting mission like an assault for the longest time. If she could take Trencino in, that would definitely prove that she's capable enough to take on the larger missions too right? Now free from Triela's hold, she sat back down and then said.

"But what should I do around the kids? I've never paid attention to any of the kids outside of the compound before. I don't know how I should act around them."

Triela chuckled a bit at her question and then said. "Just be yourself. If you're not sure about what to do, just improvise and I'm sure that everything will be okay. Be careful though, we're living proof that kids can be pretty dangerous. Just, don't go around hurting any of them. They might be brats but you could get in big trouble if you hurt them."

Aisha thought about what she said for a moment. Would the kids really be all that bad? They were just kids after all. Sure, the SWA kids were trained killers but that was because they were enhanced, trained and conditioned for it. Would normal kids really be trouble? Shrugging a bit, she returned to her apple sauce and finished her meal, except for her veggies of course.


	3. Chapter 3

After lunch Aisha said goodbye to Triela and headed out of the cafeteria. With nothing to do until Monday, she knew that she had to start practicing actually 'being' a normal six year old girl but the problem remained that she had zero experience in being a normal girl. She considered asking Kenichi to give her permission to go out of the compound but she didn't even know what she would do out there. It wasn't like she could have just gone up to a kid and asked how they acted normally.

After letting out a small sigh, she decided to head back to the garden so she could think on this some more. It only took her about ten minutes before she was laying down on the grass and looking up at the sky. If only the clouds could help her become more like a normal child. She knew that was a sily thought but it kept her mind on the topic. With this problem on her mind though, she recalled what Triela had said to her.

"Just be myself huh? I wonder if that would really be good enough." She blinked a little bit before saying with a pout.

"Hey, wait a minute. Is she saying I'm childish? I'm not childish! Not at all!"

She continued to deny it for a few more seconds as she sat up and then stretched her arms and legs before fully standing. There was no use in talking to herself about it right now and she had things to do. She didn't like it at all but she knew that she had to see what it was like wearing the first graders uniform so she made her way to the dorm building once more. Passing no one on the way to her room, she entered and went right to the closet. Staring at the uniform, her pout reformed and she muttered to herself.

"It looks so silly..it even has a name tag sewn onto the blazer, as if kids are going to forget each others names."

Sighing a little bit, she pulled off her sundress and started to put on her uniform, starting with the white undershirt and following it with her white skirt, which fell just above her knees. Putting on her blue blazer, which was a little tight but not uncomfortably so, she wondered why she had to wear something like this. Dresses were so much more comfortable. White socks and shiny dress shoes finished of her outfit and as she looked in the mirror, she couldn't help but think that she looked really cute in it.

Moving around in the unfamiliar shoes would be key since she was used to sneakers and she would have to take incredible care to make sure she didn't scratch them or get them dirty. Kenichi had made it very clear yesterday that if she ruined the uniform in any way, he was going to spank her one time for every euro spent on repairing or replacing it. She thought he was bluffing but she wasn't going to be testing that thought at all. Taking off the uniform, slowly and carefully, she put it back in her closet and put her sundress back on before saying.

"I guess it's not as bad as I thought it would be but..I'd much rather wear a dress like this."

There was a knock on her door just then, and she heard Kenichi's voice asking if she was in. Hurrying to the center of her room like she was trained, she stood at attention before saying.

"I-I'm here Kenichi. Please come in!"

The door opened and her handler walked into the room. Seeing Aisha at attention, he nodded before saying. "You can relax. Have you tried on the uniform yet?"

Aisha nodded her head before saying. "Y-yes, I just tried it on. It fits really well."

Kenichi replied. "I'm glad. If it were too tight, you know it would be your bottom if it were to rip or tear. But that's not the main reason why I came here. Since you'll be in a public school, you'll need a last name. I've registered you as Aisha Hikari."

Aisha gasped a little bit before saying. "H-hikari? But isn't that your last name Kenichi?"

Kenichi nodded and said. "That's right. I'm 'officially' your father since I'll be picking you up from school until you decide to tail Trencino on your own. It's to avoid causing any suspicion about you being more than just a new student. You're also transferring in from Japan so throw in a few desu's just to be cute."

That was something she was never going to do and she made it clear by saying. "N-no way! You have to be kidding! There's no way I'll humiliate myself like that!" Her face was completely red with anger and embarrassment and it only got redder when Kenichi chuckled.

"Of course I'm kidding. You really just moved here from Florence so make sure you study up on the local areas. Rico visited there not too long ago so ask her some questions if you see her. She should be getting back from her mission tomorrow if everything goes well."

Aisha replied with a nod. "R-right, I'll learn as much as I can about Florence before my mission."

Kenichi nodded his head before turning for the door and exiting. He had nothing more to say and he had his fill of teasing her for the day so he was off to talk to the other handlers. Aisha on the other hand, was considering her new task. She had to find out as much as she could about Florence before heading out to school on Monday but with Rico being away, she didn't know what to do. Shrugging her shoulders, she said to herself.

"I'll ask Rico tomorrow if she comes back. Before that though..I think I'll take a nap." Memories of what Triela said in the cafeteria returned to her just then and she said with a pout.

"Not that I need one of course. This is just to pass the time."

Going over to her bed, she flopped down on her back and closed her eyes before drifting to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

The weekend seemed to fly by and it was finally time for Aisha to wake up and get ready for school. Opening her eyes, she wiped the tears that appeared every morning for no reason at all and got out of bed before stretching her body. She had actually gotten up early so she had plenty of time to get dressed. Pulling the zipper on her one-piece pajamas down, she took them off before throwing them into the hamper. Looking at her uniform, she sighed before grabbing the undershirt first and putting it on, followed by her skirt and blazer after that and once more, she finished it off with her socks and dress shoes.

Next to her bed was a backpack for her books and papers and there was a gym bag next to it containing her shorts and t-shirt for Gym class. She already knew that Gym was going to be a breeze given her enhancements but even she knew that she would have to tone it down multiple levels considering no normal six year old would be able to lift something over five times her own weight. She searched through the school bag to make sure she had all of her pencils, pens, and other school supplies before closing it up and putting her arms through the straps. Adjusting the straps so that they were comfortable, she then lifted her Gym bag and went to the center of her room, where she placed the Gym bag down and stood at attention.

Ten minutes passed before there was a knock on the door and Kenichi's voice asked if she was ready. Remaining at attention, she replied.

"I-I'm ready Kenichi. Please come in."

"No need for that. Grab your bags and come on out. We're going to your school early so you can get used to the layout. You'll be led around the school in single file lines during the class shifts but we can't have you getting lost if you have to tinkle."

He was purposely talking to her as if she were really a six year old child. It was both to tease her, and get her used to the childish phrases that she was going to have to endure while in 1st grade.

Aisha, of course, pouted from the childish phrase but didn't give her usual comeback since she knew herself that she was supposed to wear the guise of a six year old. There was no way she was acting it in front of Kenichi. That would be a completely new level of embarrassing! Picking up her school bag, she exited her room and followed Kenichi over to the parking lot, where his Fiat Barchetta was parked and waiting for them to get in. She rarely got to ride with Kenichi in his car so she was going to enjoy this as much as she could. Looking to Kenichi as he turned on the car, she wondered where he lived. He never really talked about himself too much so his life away from her was a mystery. She wanted to know more about him but she didn't want to ask and ruin the fun relationship they had now. Sure the teasing was annoying, but it was a little fun at the same time.

They drove to school in silence and Aisha took the opportunity to think about her schedule for the day. From 8:20 to 8:30 everyone arrived in class and listened to the announcements. From 8:35 to10:20, first period started with Spelling, Phonics and Language Arts. 10:20 to 10:35 was snack time and their bathroom break. From 10:35 to 11:30, they went to period two, which was Math. 11:30 to 11:45 was read aloud time, which she assumed was story time with the kids telling the story. From 11:45 to 11:50 they had another bathroom break and then went to Lunch from 11:50 to 12:15. 12:15 to 12:45, all of the children went out for recess. 12:50 to 1:25 was fifth period Phys Ed, which was definitely going to be her favorite subject. 1:25 to 2:20 was sixth period Social Studies, 2:20 to 2:45 was seventh period Science and at 3:00 they were allowed to go home.

Sighing a little bit, she couldn't help but think of how boring all this was going to be. Snack breaks and recess all seemed to be wastes of time when the kids could be learning but she was far from normal so she couldn't say if this was really effective or not. Looking to Kenichi, she said with a small frown.

"Kenichi? What should I do during recess? I doubt they would let me go to the range.."

Kenichi couldn't help but chuckle at her question. She was a trained killer through and through. Keeping his eyes forward, he said. "Just run around or something. I'm sure they will have something for you to occupy your time."

Aisha couldn't help but think about it more but her thinking time was cut short when they pulled in front of the school and parked in one of the spaces for visitors right in front of the main entrance. Kenichi was coming in with her to finish up the paperwork while she had to go to her class.

Looking at the map next to the main office, she memorized the key points of the building, mainly her classes, the teachers room, and the bathrooms. Giving Kenichi a hug, she said cheerfully.

"Bye bye daddy! See you after school!" She had been practicing that line all evening last night and it came out perfectly. Waving goodbye to Kenichi, she hurried to her class and prepared herself for a lot of noise and annoying kids.


	5. Chapter 5

Aisha headed down the hallway at a slow pace. She was really in no hurry since they had arrived early and didn't need to be in class for another ten minutes. She was spending that time exploring the school and getting a feel for where everything was since she was going to be spending quite a lot of time in the building. She mainly noted the pictures on the wall, which varied from cute animals to pictures of teachers and staff.

It wasn't long before she reached her classroom and upon opening the door, she first noted the small size of the room. It could fit fifteen to twenty people and each student had a nameplate on their desk. She would find her desk soon but now she looked to the front of the room, where a man that looked about twenty four sat at the large desk. Brown hair, emerald green eyes and casual clothing consisting of a buttoned t-shirt and jeans fitting on a fairly tone, but not too muscular body. The man in front of her was a part of the terrorist faction known as Blue Phoenix. A faction that targeted multiple members of the government according to their unknown agenda.

She was't aware of what they wanted, who their leader was, how organized they were or any other information like that. Blue Phoenix was a mystery to everyone except those that were a part of it. Looking at the man before her, she couldn't help but wonder how many people this man killed already. How many people did he plan on killing? In her eyes he was nothing more than a killer. A wolf in sheep's clothing. How a person like him had gotten into a position to teach children was a mystery to her.

Trencino noticed her just then and smiled, something that made her cringe. It looked warm and welcoming but was there anything behind the smile? Did he see her as a potential recruit to the Blue Phoenix? He spoke a little after smiling.

"Ah, you must be the new student. Aisha Hikari correct? It's a very pretty name and if I'm not mistaken Hikari is Japanese correct?"

Aisha nodded a little bit and said as politely as she could. "Y-yes sir. Hikari means 'light' in Japanese." She couldn't let her voice contain any venom in it. Venom wasn't warranted for a situation like this, especially for a six year old.

"I see. Well, allow me to be the first to welcome you to the class. Your desk is over there and your name plate has already been placed on it." He pointed to the desks and she followed his finger. About three rows back and in the middle was her desk. All of the desks, except for the teachers desk, were the old school wooden top desks with a lift-able top for storing items like books and writing materials.

She wasn't sure about being in the middle, where everyone could ask her questions from all angles. She was surely going to be getting asked about her hair since blue wasn't often seen. It was completely natural though, which baffled lots of people. They just shrugged it off though, since explaining it would be a hassle.

Bringing her bag over to her seat, she was about to sit down when the teacher said. "Ah, Aisha. Could you come up to the front. I'd like you to introduce yourself in front of everyone once class begins. The students should be coming in the next minute or two."

"Y-yes sir." She didn't like having to introduce herself at all but it was understandable and she could even get a few initial questions out of the way immediately. As if on cue, as soon as she got to the front of the class and next to the teachers desk the warning bell rang, signaling that school was starting and the students were meant to be in class within two minutes. The door opened and a flood of kids entered the class, most of whom looked at her with a curious eye before going to their assigned seat. Then it was quiet, as they waited for the teacher to talk. Was this natural for kids or did he have them trained?

Her thoughts were interrupted when Trencino addressed the class. His voice still seemed to have a caring and gentle touch to it but she wasn't sure if it was an act or not.

"Good morning everyone, I hope you all had a fun weekend because it's time for another fun week of school!" This resulted in a chorus of boo's from the kids and Trencino simply chuckled and continued. "Now now, it's not that bad. We even have a new student to join in on the fun! Aisha? Why don't you introduce yourself."

Aisha gulped a little bit as she stepped forward. She was never one for public speaking and this was as bad as it could get! Her hands gripped the front of her skirt to calm herself down before she said. "H-hello everyone. My name's Aisha Hikari. "I, umm. I'm from Florence and just moved here with my daddy. I'm e- six years old and my favorite color is blue." She had almost slipped up on that last one but she quickly caught herself before anyone noticed. Her nerves were all real as well since while she wasn't anti-social, she definitely didn't like talking to a group.

Trencino nodded his head with a smile on his face before addressing Aisha and the class. "Thank you Aisha. Now then class, does anyone have any questions for her?" Almost all of them rose their hand and this caused Trencino to chuckle a little bit before saying. "Anyone have a question that isn't 'why is your hair blue?'" Much to her relief, about three-fourths of the hands lowered and Trencino picked one of the remaining hands. "Please stand and ask your question. Remember, she's just as nervous as you are Dmitri."

A young boy stood up from his seat and then asked. "What's it like in Florence?" It wasn't too hard of a question so Aisha smiled shyly and said, as if she were reminiscing.

"It's really pretty. There are a bunch of sculptures and the museums all have really pretty paintings and sculptures in them. I think it's a saying that everyone should see Florence at least once." She seemed to ponder this, which she really was since she was trying to recall if that was what Rico had said when she herself asked her that question. Of course, Aisha childified it a little bit to fit her age.

Aisha looked to one of the others that had their hands raised and said. "What would you like to ask?"

A small girl, about Aisha's own height, stood up and then asked shyly. "D-do you play any instruments? I like music a lot." This was a question that made Aisha smile. Aisha had learned how to play the flute in order to help get her muscles to cooperate with her mind. She didn't know why her muscles didn't cooperate, she just knew that she needed to get them working. Looking to the shy girl, she said.

"Yes, I play the flute. I'm not really good, but I'm trying my best to get better." This seemed to satisfy the girl since she smiled just a little bit before taking her seat. She was actually very good with the flute but a child wouldn't be at her level normally right? Aisha looked around and then one by one, she picked a kid and answered their question to the best of her abilities. The kids weren't as bad as she thought they would be. Maybe Triela's warning about kids being brats were all for nothing. Thinking about it, she was returned to her seat so that she could get ready for class.

Spelling was the first class of the day.


	6. Chapter 6

Aisha was really annoyed by the class already. She was smart, probably smarter than all of the children in the room combined, so she found it a little irritating that the teacher would say a word like 'bumblebee' was difficult and that they would have to take their time with each letter as they put it into a sentence. Of course he explained what a bumblebee was, probably for the kids that had never been outside before, so everyone would know how to put it into a sentence.

Writing down on the paper in front of her, she wrote down: The bumblebee is a member of the genus _Bombus_, and the family _Apidae._ That made her grin a little bit since it would really show the teacher what it meant to underestimate her. Sure she couldn't beat him to a pulp yet, but that didn't mean that she couldn't prove that she wasn't a force to be reckoned with. Of course, she still had to remain undercover, so she could just say she read it in a nature book and remembered it. Normal kids read nature books right? Thinking about that, she looked around and saw that there were actually kids struggling with what to write. Was it really that hard to write a sentence?

About five minutes passed before the teacher stood up and called for the papers to be passed up. Taking the papers of the kids behind her and getting a quick glance at the one on top, she was surprised to find one filled with hearts and flowers, as well as the bumblebee sentence: My heart flutters like a bumblebee. Talk about weird. Giggling a little bit, she passed the papers forward.

The teacher gave them free time while he looked over the sentences, as long as they stayed in their seats and just as she expected, she was flooded by a barrage of more questions. Who's bright idea was it to put her in the middle again? Trying to settle down the kids around her, she managed to get them to calm down enough to ask questions one at a time, which relieved her to a point. The first one was a boy a little taller than she was, which irked her since he was two years younger than her.

"Is that your real hair color? I've never seen anyone with blue hair before." It was obviously the question most of the kids wanted to know since the teacher hadn't allowed it before but now that it was free time, they could ask.

Giving a small sigh, she explained precisely why her hair was blue, and that it was completely natural with no dye at all. The explanation seemed to fly over a lot of the kids' heads but one or two seemed to be able to keep up, which made her happy since she wasn't the only smart kid in the class. After a few more questions, she felt like it was her turn to ask some of her own questions. Looking to the girl to her left, she said. "What's Mr. Trencino like? Do you know him outside of school?"

The little girl smiled a little bit before saying. "He's really nice and isn't boring at all! He really knows how to make learning fun! My Kindergarten teacher was really boring, but Mr. T is really fun. I don't know him outside of school though. I wonder where he lives.."

_That's precisely what I intend on finding out. _Aisha thought as she took in what the girl said. So he has fun with the kids and none of them seemed to harbor any ill will towards him but that didn't mean he was a good guy. He was probably trained to be deceptive.

Looking to her right, at the boy who had asked her what it was like in Florence, she said. "So no one knows about Mr. Trencino outside of school? What about his hobbies or likes?" To her these were perfectly good questions but the kids seemed to recieve them a different way.

"You're asking a lot about Mr. T, could it be you have a crush on him?" Aisha's eyes grew wide at that claim and before she could stop it, even more joined in. "Wow, now there are two girls who have a crush on Mr. T! Good luck Aisha! Do your best!"

Words of encouragement filled the room and even the teacher caught wind of it. Chuckling a little bit, he said to the very embarrassed Aisha. "Sorry Aisha, but I'm afraid I can't return your feelings. Don't be discouraged though, there are plenty of handsome guys out there." Aisha wanted to pound him into the ground so bad but she knew that was the worst thing she could do right now. Holding in her anger, her eyes teared a little and once more the kids took it the wrong way.

"Aww, Mr. T made her cry! There there Aisha, there's plenty of fish in the sea!" More words of encouragement followed and she just covered her face with her hands and laid her head on the desk. The kids seemed to take the hint, though they thought she was just sulking over getting turned down. Aisha on the other hand, was thinking. _Triela was right..Kids are annoying!_


	7. Chapter 7

After Spelling class came their bathroom and snack break. Aisha thought that the snack break was boring since she had nothing to do but relieve herself and eat a few cookies and some milk. She talked to a few of the kids and tried to get them to see that she didn't have a crush on the teacher, and that they were all just innocent questions. Most of them were able to be talked out of poking fun at her but there were always the few who wouldn't be talked out of it, specifically a girl who was a little taller than herself, which once again annoyed her. She had blond hair, light green eyes and had a frown on her face when she told Aisha during their snack break.

"I won't let you have Mr. Trencino, Aisha. No matter what, you're my rival from now on!" This left Aisha extremely confused until she remembered that one of the kids said before that there were now two kids that were interested in the teacher. So this was the other girl with a crush. She certainly looked like a brat. The very air around her gave off the impression of a spoiled little girl. Trying to keep herself out of trouble, she said.

"I really don't like him like that I promise!" She tried her best to defend herself but the girl didn't seem to take no for an answer.

"I know that you like him! You even asked about where he lives! Why would you ask something like that if you don't like him?" Aisha could have told the girl the many ways knowing a persons address could help in assassinating them but she knew that would be way too suspicious, especially if one of the kids nearby told Trencino what she said. With no other alternative, she accepted defeat and said.

"Fine, think what you want but does my rival have a name? It's not fair that you know my name and I don't know yours." This seemed to at least throw the girl for a loop since she wasn't expecting such a quick change of subject. It actually took her a moment before she recovered and said with the same hint of arrogance as before.

"I guess it is only fair that you know your rivals name. Fine, my name is Annetta Lynette and I'm six years old." Well at least she knew the girls name now so it was easier to talk to her now. Smiling a little bit, she said.

"Nice to meet you Annetta. I've never had a rival before so I hope we can be good rivals." Of course that was a lie since she was in constant competition with all of the other cyborgs. They were always having fun while doing it but she still saw each and every one of them as rivals and friends at the same time. No matter what, she was going to prove that her small size couldn't keep her from taking down the bad guys like Trencino. She couldn't wait until that final confrontation but she knew that was a while from now. She still had to gather information. Seeing an opportunity, she said casually.

So, what do you know about Mr. Trencino then? You like him a lot so you must know a lot about him." Annette's reaction was just about what she expected from her. First she looked surprised that she would ask something like that, and then it turned into anger as she said.

"As if I would tell you! You're my rival so I'm not telling you anything!" Aisha sighted a little bit as she got that response. It was a little different than what she was expecting but not too far off. She was about to ask a few more questions when Trencino stood up and said to the students, and mostly the two loud girls who were 'competing' for his hand.

"Okay students it's time for Math so please return to your seats and take out your math books. Today we're just going to review what we've been going over for the last few days." His attention turned to Aisha for a moment before asking. "Aisha, are you able to add and subtract numbers with two digits such as twenty-one plus twelve?"

Aisha stood up and nodded her head a little bit before saying. "Yes Mr. Trencino, I can add and subtract really well. I can even tell you that the answer to that is thirty-three!" She sounded excited but that was an act since she was really thinking about how she could add and subtract seven digit numbers easily at the moment. Other math problems were a piece of cake as well for her. She heard someone mumbling behind her. and it sounded something like 'show off' with Annette's voice. Once Trencino nodded for her to sit down, she took her seat and ignored the jealous girl behind her as Trencino continued.

"That's correct Aisha, good work. Now that i know everyone in the class is ready and able, I would like for you all to open up your books to page twelve and answer as many of the problems as you can. Take your time with each problem since it's not a race to see who gets done first."

Aisha was curious to see the problems that she was up against so she flipped her Math book open and turned to the assigned page. As she expected, it was a page full of different two digit problems. The majority seemed to be addition but there were a few subtraction problems as well. Picking up her pencil, she started to write down the answers to each of the problems, taking no more than two or three seconds to look at each problem before solving it. It took her a total of ten minutes to finish the entire section, followed by the next two sections as well. She hoped going ahead wasn't frowned at. If you knew the material then go on ahead, that's what she thought anyways.

It wasn't long before all of the other students started to finish up and once Mr. Trencino felt that all of the kids had gotten enough time for the assignment, he stood up and said. "Okay everyone, finish up the problem that you're on and then pass your books to the front. While I'm looking over the books, you can have free time but once again, stay in your seats and nothing more than a dull roar. Wouldn't want to disturb the other classes after all."

Aisha passed her book forward before reaching behind her and getting the books from behind her and passing them up to the next kid. She was pretty sure that she wasn't going to get in trouble for going ahead but the feeling still lingered in her body since she didn't fully know the rules. After a few thoughts on it, she decided not to think about it anymore since it wasn't too big a deal. Since there was still free time to go, she drifted into her thoughts. She had a feeling that Annette had more information on Trencino but she was holding it real close. Maybe she had a diary or something she could look into. She couldn't exactly ask to go over her house though. They were rivals after all. She would have to think of another way to get it out of her. As she thought about this, the bell rang once more, signalling the start of Read-Along time according to her schedule. This was sure to be interesting. Not.


	8. Chapter 8

It wasn't long before the class was asked to spread the desks all along the outside of the classroom and to bring a single chair into the middle of the room. It was now 'Read-Aloud Time' and everyone had to read from an easy book, chosen by the teacher himself. Aisha knew this was going to be easier than all of the other classes combined with all the classes to come but she still tried to keep her boredom hidden, since all the other kids looked starry-eyed at the chance to show off their reading skills. She didn't know what the teacher was going to choose, but she figured that the story would be revealed soon since the teacher stood up and went over to the book shelf.

Trencino looked through the selection of books and then smiled before pulling a small book out of the shelf. It was a fairly easy book to read and he was sure that they would all be able to read it without trouble. Looking to the students, he said. "Alright now class, the story we're going to be reading together is The Prince of the Pasta Kingdom. It's a nice little story that has a happy ending for all." He looked to the class and said while looking at a boy with brown hair and matching eyes. "Come on up Ricardo. You can read the first line. Do your best."

The boy Ricardo nodded his head and then went up to the seat. Sitting down, he took the offered book from the teacher and opened it to the first page. After silently reading it to himself, he said out loud.

"A long, long time ago, there was place called the Pasta Kingdom. There lived a prince who loved pasta, and that's all he ate, everyday. However, there was only one fork in that kingdom, so the prince had to eat the pasta all by himself. Even though the pasta was delicious, it was no fun to eat alone." The teacher stopped him there and said with a smile.

"Very good! You've been practicing, I can tell." Ricardo smiled a little before taking his seat among the students again. A small girl who's name Aisha didn't know took the seat next and read the next line.

"That all changed one day when Prince Pasta was just about to sit down and eat when a royal announcement was made. It was Princess Pizza! She arrived to meet Prince Pasta. When Pasta saw her, he fell in love with her and wanted to woo her." This caused a few giggles in the crowd, one was even Aisha herself. Next was a boy who was once again taller than Aisha.

"He gathered all his cooks and all his kitchens to create the most delicious dinner ever made. He then invited Princess Pizza to eat with him, and she would be the first to eat pasta other than the Prince. She did accept and came to the dinner." The boy sat down and then it was Aisha's turn to read. Getting up and taking her seat at the chair, she said.

"But there was a problem—there was only one fork! Why, how could someone eat pasta without a fork? That was when Princess Pizza said, "If you love me, you will give me your fork and not eat this lovely food." She wanted to continue from there, and even finish the book, but she didn't think that would be fair to the other kids. Sitting down, she was replaced by Annetta, who read as if she were trying to impress the teacher.

" 'I love you,' Prince Pasta said, and he gave her the fork and watched her eat. He was happy only to have dinner with someone else. After dinner, Prince Pasta asked her to marry her. Princess Pizza refused." Aisha could have sworn she saw her turning to the teacher as she read that first sentence. Trencino didn't seem to notice though. Nevertheless, Annetta was replaced by the shy girl from before.

" 'You have not yet proven your love,' she said, and left the Pasta Kingdom. The next day, she again returned to the Pasta Kingdom. Prince Pasta gathered his cooks and set the kitchens and ordered them to cook the best dinner—better than last time! They cooked and cooked till perfection, throwing out all the excellent quality foods, keeping only the best." She was trying her best to speak as clearly, but as quickly as possible. It seemed she didn't like public speaking, but liked reading. Another boy was next up.

"However, when Prince Pasta asked her to dinner that night, she said, 'If you love me, you will not eat your pasta, let it all go to waste, and follow me to my home.' "

The story continued and one by one the children took their turns reading the story. Aisha herself was really loving the story, despite her firm belief that it was just a childrens book and not something to be taken too seriously. Trencino decided to finish up the story by saying with a smile without reading from the book.

"In her honor, Prince Pasta did call the strange pasta: _pizza_ and they lived happily ever after. The end." He took a moment before saying. "This book is a favorite of mine, and I'm glad I could share it with all of you. I hope you all liked it as much as I did." This resulted in a lot of cheers of approval, with only a couple boos from the hard cases in the class. They were the ones that had messed up their lines and took the slowest to read, even requiring the teachers help at a time.

The bell rang to signal the end of the story time period and all of the desks were returned to their original positions. Aisha was starting to think that she was going to like story time now. The book had been enjoyable at least.

The next few minutes allowed Eve a bathroom break, where she used the five minutes to relieve herself and wash her hands for the next period, which was Lunch. All of the boys and girls were formed up in a single file line and then walked into the large cafeteria. The smell of different meats and vegetables filled the childrens noses as soon as they walked in. There were kids of all grades here and they were all eating either their own home made foods or the school lunch, which was roast beef and gravy with vegetables on the side.

Much to her disappointment, she recieved no sweet treats when it was her turn to get her lunch but it was understandable. These lunch hands didn't know her, while she was a regular at the SWA. Finding a table was pretty tough with all of the different kids, but she soon found an open spot among some older boys, possibly fifth graders, judging from their size. Most of them gave her a passing glance and returned to their meals but one of the boys said.

"Hey squirt, nice hair. Did you have your mommy dye it for you?" This resulted in some chuckles from the others, who had the same thoughts as him. She had heard that older boys tended to pick on the smaller ones for reasons of their own from Kenichi, but she kept his warning in mind. She was not allowed to hurt them in any way. Sighing and trying to get herself calm, she pouted and said. "It's my natural hair color." Once she said that, she explained just why her hair was naturally blue once more. This seemed to surprise the boys. "Wow, those are some pretty big words for such a little girl. You're in what, Kindergarten?"

It was hard for her to keep herself under control but after letting out a small breath to calm, she said. "First grade..I'm six.." She kept her anger hidden well, since they didn't comment on her emotions at the moment and for the next few minutes they were quiet, until they noticed that she wasn't eating her vegetables. Chuckling, the boy said. "No wonder you're so small, you don't eat your vegetables!" The other boys laughed and joined in on teasing her light heartedly.

The boys finished up their meals first and said to Aisha, who was now red in the face. "We'll be going now. Eat those vegetables or you'll never be big and strong." With that, the boys left for the door to the outside, which was allowed since that door lead to the playground and it was Recess next. Aisha on the other hand, clenched her fist and muttered. "You don't know strong.." She finished up the meat of her lunch and then threw the veggies out. She didn't need them and didn't like them and that was final. Still pouting from the teasing, she headed for the door. It was a half hour recess and she planned on making the most of it.

AN: All credit for the portion of the Pasta Prince story goes to Colonel Marksman and his Pasta Prince story, which can be read here on this site.


	9. Chapter 9

Lunch was now over and Aisha made her way to the door to the playground for Recess. Opening it, her first sight was seeing a large open field with multiple kids running around and screaming as they ran away from a kid who was most likely 'it.' Turning her head she saw a playground area with a few activities like hop-scotch, slides, swings, and even a jungle gym. She was definitely going to be going over there soon. Right now though she was looking around some more. The entire play area was fairly large to accomodate the children but it wasn't a kid she was looking for. Recess was also the teachers lunch break and her own teacher Trencino was sitting under a good sized tree eating what looked to be a sandwich with some kind of meat in it.

Grinning to herself, she pretended to be playing happily in the field as she slowly made her way over to him. She was interrupted though, by small hands grabbing her arm gently. Turning to the person holding her, she recognized the boy from her class. He was smiling and said to her. "Hey Aisha come play with us! We're playing tag and Recette is it!" Recette seemed to be a girl from one of the higher grades. Brown hair with a double balled hair-tie on each side so her side looked the same on each side, green eyes and a fairly light build, she looked like she was in about fourth or fifth grade. She didn't seem to be all that fast. Shaking her head, she said to him.

"Sorry, maybe another time." This didn't go well with him since his grip seemed to tighten and he said. "Aww come on! It will be fun!" Just like always, she was soon surrounded by a few other kids that were playing but not being chased at the moment and they added their requests for her to join. Letting out a small sigh, she decided to give up on talking to Trencino privately for now and said to the kids.

"Okay, okay. I'll play tag with you. Now can you let go of my arm Anthony? It's starting to hurt." It wasn't true of course but it did work to get him to let go of her arm. Rubbing her arm a little bit to add to the effect, she watched as the kids started to scatter. Confused for a moment, she wondered what was wrong until she saw Recette coming for them, or more specifically, her. She was just about to be tagged when instincts took over and she effortlessly jumped back about five feet to get away, followed by dashing to the side to flank Recette. This not only surprised Recette, but the other kids as well. Trying to play it off as nothing, she said. "Almost but not quick enough!"

She started to run now that she had put distance between Recette. She was obviously holding back her true athletic abilities now since she didn't want to seem suspicious at all. Her escape had been dismissed and now the chase was on and quite honestly, she thought it was pretty fun. She thought of herself as an escaped prisoner getting out of a prison facility and she had to dodge the guard chasing after her. She was constantly running and keeping an eye on who switched to being 'it'. Once another person was tagged it, Recette seemed to make a path to her and once she was caught up, she said.

"You're pretty fast for a kindergartner! My name's Recette Limegrass. Strange last name, I know but what can you do? Can't pick your last name. Still, it's nice to meet you!" Aisha bit her tongue a little bit upon being called a kindergartner once more but refrained from mentioning it as she replied. "T-thank you. I've loved running around ever since I was a baby so I'm really fast now! I'm Aisha Hikari." It really felt good to run too since it caused her to let go of the concerns in her mind to focus purely on her breathing, where the target was and where her next routes of escape were. All of these made her forget all of her anger and actually helped to get rid of it. She would definitely start to enjoy Recess more often if she could keep running around like this.

At the moment, Trencino was the last thing on her mind. The only thing that mattered to her was that Anthony was now 'it' and everyone was running away from him and giggling happily, including Aisha herself. There were a few times where Aisha had almost become 'it' herself and one time she let herself get tagged just to keep things fair. She chose to chase after Recette just for fun and once she got close, she quickly pivoted and tagged a boy who thought he could run behind her, thinking her full attention was on Recette. Thanks to the no tag-back rule she was safe until the next person got tagged, then she would start running again.

The game lasted all Recess, until they were all interrupted by the bell that signaled the end of Recess. A chorus of groans came from the little group, one from Aisha herself, as they all began their march back into the building and all of the kids headed for their respective classes. She knew that she had Phys Ed next so she wasn't entirely upset about having to go back inside. She did wonder what she was going to be doing in Phys Ed though since this was her first time. She knew it was physical fitness but that could be lifting weights, going on a few mile runs or even sparring! Remembering exactly where the gym was, she took only a few minutes to get there before thinking to herself. _Well here goes. I hope we do run and spar!_


	10. Chapter 10

Gym class was the one class that Aisha was actually looking forward to in school since she would be able to run and jump freely without desks, pencils or paperwork. Even back at the SWA she was more interesed in training and shooting than sitting in the lecture room. Sure, she learned and kept everything that she was taught and even tried to look like she was interested in class but she had a suspicion that Lorenzo knew that she often daydreamed while still trying to look attentive. He never called her out on it yeet though, much to her relief. The last thing that she needed was getting in trouble with the higher-ups. Kenichi would really get tough on her if he knew that she wasn't giving 100% in class. She shivered at the thought of that as she walked into the changing room.

The changing room looked pretty similar to the one they had over at the SWA. there were a few rows of lockers for the kids to put their uniforms in while they had Gym and benches in between the rows so that they could sit down while putting on their shoes and socks. In the back of the changing room were rows of showers for them to wash off after a good session of running around. Looking at her gym bag, this was probably the happiest she's felt all day since she was finally able to get her dress shoes and tight uniform off and exchange it for her t-shirt, shorts and most important of all: her sneakers. Changing clothes didn't take long at all and she was careful when taking off her uniform since she didn't want to tear anything at all since it was going to be her bottom if she ripped it. Putting the uniform into the locker, she looked herself over for a second before following the other kids out to the main gym.

The gym was everything she had expected it to be and more! The area was huge and open with two basketball hoops on each end of the main court while the oval markings around it suggested that the running portion of the class was spent running around the track. Against the walls on the east and west sides were bleachers for assemblies and in the corner she could see a smaller room that she assumed was the equipment room. The door was closed so she could only wonder what was inside of it. Weights, medicine balls and all sorts of training equipment ran through her mind while she walked around. The teacher didn't seem to be here yet, or maybe he was still changing, either way he wasn't here and the kids were all running around so she thought some running would be fun. Walking to the marked track she stretched her leg a little bit before starting a slow run. About halfway around the oval, the teacher came out of the equipment room with a bunch of rubber balls in a cart and called everyone to the center of the gym.

Trencino looked at all of the children once they were gathered and said. "Okay everyone, the game we're going to be playing now is dodgeball." This resulted in cheers from the boys, with Aisha added into their cheers, and groans from the girls. He had expected that kind of reaction but the game was on the schedule so they had to play it.

Continuing, he said. "You will be split into two teams and each team will form on their side of the basketball court. Five balls will be placed on the border in the middle and when I blow the whistle, you will run to get the balls from the center but you can't throw them until you've taken at least five steps back. We don't want any injuries after all and we want this to be fun. Now, the rules of the game are: No aiming for the face, if you throw the ball and the other team catches it before it hits the floor, you're out. If the ball hits someone, goes into the air, and is caught by a teammate then that person is saved and you are out."

He paused for a moment to think and then said. "The balls can only be thrown, that means no kicking them. If I catch you kicking the ball I'll take you out of the game." Aisha giggled at that one. It seemed in the past a lot of kids tried kicking the ball in the game. She was sure that she could play this game well. It was all about making sure you know where to throw and how to dodge. This was going to be a piece of cake! She just hoped that she would get put on a good team.

Trencino looked to the kids and said. "Okay, I'm going to sort you into teams now so get in a line in front of me, side by side and I'll give you your team number ones are on the left and two's are on the right." Once the boys and girls had done so, he walked to the first child and counted her as one, the next was two and then one again. This pattern followed all the way to the end and once he had them all sorted, he said. "Go to your side please and we can start."

Aisha was a one so she went to the left side and appraised her team. Four boys and four girls including her with the other team having five boys and three girls. She also noted that Annette was on the other team as well. They seemed to be thinking the same thing since they made eye contact before smiling at each other with confidence. It was obvious the two of them would be going at it in this game.

The teacher looked to see that everyone was in their respective places before placing five of the rubber balls in a row between the two groups of kids before standing to the side. Bringing the whistle to his mouth, he blew out and signaled the start of the game. The kids rushed for the balls in hopes of getting to them first but Aisha took her time. Even if the enemy got the balls first they still had to take the five steps back before being able to throw them and that gave her plenty of time to get ready for evasive moves. It turned out that three of the balls were brought into her teams possession and when both teams took the required steps back, the balls started flying like a ship-to-ship battle back in the old days of pirates.

These cannonballs however, were made out of rubber and could easily be caught in her hands. None of them came after her though. Instead, the two being sent her teams way hit one of the boys on the shin and one of the girls on the back since she saw the ball coming and turned around. Lucky for her though, the ball was sent up into the air and she saw the opportunity to catch it and took it. Running past her other teamates, she caught the ball just before it touched the ground and the teacher declared the boy who threw it out. Grinning, the ball was now in her possession and much to her happiness, Annette also had a ball in her hand and once more they were looking right at each other. Their confident grins returned before they both threw the balls at each other and each hoped that they would hit the other.

Aisha had taken the safer route and threw low and at her feet while Annette threw at her midsection, a fatal mistake. Her ball connected with Annette's ankles while the ball she threw hit her right in her gut but thanks to her training and enhancements she was able to catch it without problem and even managed to grin as she thought she got Annette out twice over. That was a satisfying feeling. Annette couldn't believe that she had lost against her rival and then said. "You just got lucky Aisha! Next time we meet in battle you're definitely going down!" This caused Aisha to giggle a little bit since she hadn't been the only one to think of this as a battle.

The game went on and on until finally Aisha's team was declared the victor but her win wasn't without casualties. She had lost two boys and one girl on her team and to her that was too many losses. Of course this was only a game and she was with normal untrained kids but it was a force of habit. Once the game was called the teacher told them all to head to their respective changing rooms and get ready for their next class. Since they had worked up a sweat during the game they had to take quick showers before changing back into their uniforms. She took hers quickly before going to her locker and getting dressed into a fresh pair of panties and putting on her uniform once more. She didn't want to wear it again but there was still two more classes to go through and that was Social Studies and Science. She didn't know what to expect but she hoped it would be interesting. Shrugging her shoulders a little bit, she grabbed her bag and left for the classroom.


	11. Chapter 11

Aisha took no time at all to return to the classroom and once she was in she went to her desk and sat down quietly. The teacher, Trencino, was at his desk sorting out some papers. From her desk, she thought they looked like small maps of Italy and southern Europe. Well, it was going to be Social Studies so maybe they would be learning map reading. It was a skill she already acquired through her training with Kenichi and the others so this would be a piece of cake. Slowly but surely the other kids came into class and once everyone was seated, Trencino looked to them and said with his usual smile.

"Alright class, now that we're all back and ready to learn let's review what we've been learning for the past couple of days." He seemed to regard the whole class before falling on the boy Anthony. "Anthony, why don't you tell us where we left off." Anthony seemed to be one of the smarter kids since he stood up and said with confidence in his voice. "We were learning about the Renaissance, and how at that time Italy wasn't together like it is today." Trencino nodded his head and said with a smile. "That's correct Anthony, good work. Italy in the fifteenth century was split into multiple different territories and these territories were all ruled by different people. It's not like today where Italy is a single country."

Aisha knew this much from her studies but she was at least interested in this topic since it was something relatively new to her. She had read books about the history of Italy and remembered them thanks to her memory but learning about it first hand is a lot different from reading it alone from a book. While she was thinking about how interesting the topic was, Trencino had returned to his desk and retrieved the paper maps from before. Before he handed them out, he said. "Now then, I have a fun assignment for all of you. Inside your desks are some colored pencils and the map that I'm passing out shows the different territories of Italy back then. You'll recognize some of the names, I'm sure. Your assignment is to read the list on the bottom of the paper and give each territory its respective color."

This caught Aisha by surprise. They were going from learning about the different territories to a coloring assignment! She completely forgot that this was first grade for a moment since the topic had been so interesting but she knew her fun would come to an end. She tried to make herself feel better by telling herself that she could still learn the names of the territories off the map, and even their various territories. Trencino passed out the maps and once hers was on her desk, she looked at it. The territories were all there: The Republic of Florence, the Republic of Siena, the Papal States, the Kingdom of Naples, Sardinia, Corsica, and even some of lower Europe such as Hungary and the Ottoman Empire. She never knew there were so many territories back then. After each name of the territory there was a number and in the legend each number was assigned a color so she at least knew how to color each territory.

It didn't take long before all of the children were opening up their desks and pulling out the crayons that were stored, along with the other supplies for school. Pulling out a box of her own crayons, Aisha grumbled a little bit before starting on her work. She had been expecting something fun and interesting like map reading but it turned out a lot differently than she expected. While the children worked on their individual assignments, Trencino walked up and down the aisles, checking each child's paper and correcting them when necessary. After he made sure they all understood how to work, he smiled and said to them all.

"Did you know class, that Italy was divided for a very long time. In fact, it wasn't until around 1815 that the push for true unification started. The process was well on its way long before that though. Between 1494 and 1796, there was a large change in the individual countries. For example, if you look on your maps, do you see the two countries called the Republic of Florence and the Republic of Siena? Over time, the two merged together and became the Grand Dutchy of Tuscany. The Kingdom of Naples also merged with Sicily, creating the Kingdom of Sicily. Over even more time, the Kingdom of Sicily remained the same size but to the north, the Republic of Venice merged with its nearby neighbors and became the Kingdom of Italy."

He seemed to pause for a moment to catch his breath before continuing with his personal lesson. "Over time more and more of Italy was unified, but there were always those who thought that remaining separate was best, and they fought long and hard. The fates were against them however, and a little after World War One all of Italy was unified. Now even today there are those who believe that Italy should have remained separate, and though most are peaceful protesters, there are some who take more..extreme measures."

As Aisha looked at Trencino, she could have sworn that there was a flash of emotion in his eyes when he talked about those who still believe Italy should be separate. Could there be something in that or was she just seeing things? She would have to investigate to learn more. Raising her hand up, Trencino called on her to ask her question. Looking curious, she asked.

"What do you believe Mr. Trencino? Do you think Italy should be separate?" She hoped that he wouldn't be suspicious, and it seemed her 'innocent' question paid off because he was definitely thinking about his answer seriously. When he was ready to answer, he said with a smile. "I think that it would be pretty interesting to see a separate Italy, but I don't think it's really something that will happen any time soon, if ever."

Bingo. Aisha definitely thought that she found the motive behind the Blue Phoenix faction and she would have to tell Kenichi about this as soon as he picked her up after school. Smiling and looking satisfied with his answer, she giggled some before bringing her attention back to her work. The class was silent for the rest of the period and Aisha was almost disappointed when she colored in the last portion of the map. She had been lost in her coloring and the quality was definitely nice, with the colors all within the lines. Time passes quickly when you're having fun so once the bell rang, signaling the final period of the day, she turned in her assignment and took her seat for Science class.


	12. Chapter 12

It was the last period of the day and Aisha couldn't be any more excited. She had discovered a possible lead on the Blue Phoenix group and she knew that she had to report this information to Kenichi as soon as possible. Once she was picked up, she would tell him all she learned about Trencino. She also had to report that he seemed to be well liked by the other children, though she was almost certain that it was only a front into something much more sinister. Thoughts of him using the children as possible recruits filtered through her mind as Trencino started to get everything set up for Science Class. He seemed to be placing different chemicals around at first but upon looking closer, it seemed like the chemicals were only baking soda and vinegar. A little confused, she watched as he then stood up and addressed the class with a smile.

"Well class, as you know we're going over the different kinds of geological features on the Earth. You might have noticed I've placed a few things on my desk, things you might find in your own kitchens back home. Those will be used for a treat at the end of the class, so I hope you look forward to it everyone." He chuckled a bit before opening up his book and saying. "If you'll all open up your books to page fifty-six, you'll see a large mountain. Mountains are formed in many different ways, but the most common occurance is from the tectonic plates pushing against each other. We talked about the tectonics a little bit earlier in the year, correct?" He heard the class give their approval before continuing. "Well, as I said before, mountains are formed when the plates push against each other so much that the land has no other place to go but up." He paused and smiled before saying. "Can anyone tell me what the largest mountain on Earth is?"

None of the children raised their hands due to being stumped by the question. Aisha knew it though, and she waited for a moment before raising her hand and being called on. Even she knew this much from her classes back at the SWA. Once she was called, she said with a smile. "It's Mount Everest right? I read that it's the biggest mountain in the whole world!" Trencino nodded his approval before smiling and saying. "You read correctly Aisha, good work!" Aisha couldn't help but smile at the praise as she took her seat once more.

Trencino then regarded his book once more before saying while turning the page. "If you turn the page, you'll see our next feature, the canyon. These are made in a really interesting way, one that takes hundreds of thousands of years to form. You see, when water and wind rushes through the land, sometimes it will gradually take away the ground beneath it. This process is called erosion and like I said before, it takes a really really long time for the water, and wind as well, to fully erode the land into a canyon. Some canyon's can be small, and some can cross large distances. One such valley would be the United States' Grand Canyon, which crosses many of their states and is the largest canyon in America." He nodded his head before turning the page and smiling. "Ah, this one is one of my favorites. The crater is a feature that is not caused by the Earth itself, but by large meteors crashing into the surface of the Earth. Now, we haven't got anything to worry about since it's been millions of years since a meteor of significant size hit the Earth. Scientists even think it was that last meteor that caused the dinosaurs to become extinct."

Seeing the looks of surprise and, in some, fear in the eyes of the children, he chuckled before saying. "Now now, children, there's nothing to worry about like I said. There are no big meteors that are going to hit the Earth. In fact, many of the ones that do make it to us get blown up in our atmosphere before it even makes it to the ground. Plus, we have the moon protecting us as well. You know how the surface of the moon looks like swiss cheese? Well that's because the moon is doing its best to protect us! Now back to craters, these are the impact zones left over after the initial crash. These can range from only a few feet deep all the way to hundreds and hundreds of feet deep and miles wide."

Aisha herself had been surprised by the threat that meteors posed against the Earth and couldn't help but wonder if the SWA or any other kind of agency had some sort of anti-meteor defense, or something like that. She knew that the Moon could only defend them for so long. She wanted to ask about it, but she felt that Kenichi would be the best person to talk to about something like that. Looking up again, she saw that Trencino was turning the page and she did the same. She could see that the next lesson was going to be about caves.

As she had thought, Trencino looked up and said with his usual smile. "Well class, the next lesson is going to be about the caves on the Earth. You probably know about these already through stories of monsters hiding in caves but while there are no monsters in caves, there certainly are a lot of different kinds of life. Did you know that mushrooms in the caves have the ability to produce their own light, much like fireflies? This is called bioluminescence, and they're able to make light because of a chemical reaction inside of the mushroom. You'll learn more about all that stuff when you get to the higher grades though. Now, let's talk about the caves themselves. These, like canyons, can vary from a few feet deep to many miles deep into the Earth. They are pitch black, save the occasional glowing mushroom, and unless you're properly equiped they can be very dangerous. There are many things we don't know about caves and scientists are discovering new things almost every day."

Aisha herself knew that caves were also possible locations for various kinds of criminals, from terrorists to a bank robber on the run. All that is needed to survive in a cave, in her mind, were food, water, a light source and shelter. There would have to be air of course, but she thought that most caves had air anyways. Once all these were fulfilled one could live in a cave for years. While thinking all of this, she noted that Trencino seemed to be getting something from under his desk. Once he brought it to view, she could see that it was something like a mountain, though she could only see the form of it since it was covered by a sheet. The top was also flat, not pointy like many mountains.

Trencino chuckled a little bit before saying. "Well class, I saved the best for last. Take a look at this and tell me what you see." He lifted up the sheet and Aisha's eyes grew wide, as did the other children's eyes. All at once, the entire group of children, Aisha included, said. "A volcano!" Indeed, the 'mountain' that was on top of the desk was actually a very well made and detailed volcano, with many veins of lava painted to look like it was coming out from the sides of the volcano. The top was also hollowed out, making it easy to pour a certain combination of chemicals into it. Once more, Trencino chuckled before saying. "That's right everyone, this little beauty is a volcano created by yours truly." Aisha couldn't help but feel at least a small bit of respect for Trencino's artistic abilities. He was still the enemy though!

Looking at the class, Trencino said with a grin. "Well class I probably don't have to say much about the volcano that you don't already know but let's get a lesson in either way. Volcanoes are mountains that are formed by lava shooting out from deep within the Earth, cooling in the air, piling up and eventually forming the cone shaped volcanoes that we're all familiar with. Now not all volcanoes are cone shaped, and sometimes there are places where lava comes out without it being a volcano." He seemed to think for a moment before returning to the lesson. "If I recall correctly, there's a place in Hawaii that is constantly pouring out magma. Ah, that's something else. Lava is only called lava when it's in movement, like when it comes out from a volcano. Otherwise it's called magma." He thought for another moment before saying. "Volcanoes are very dangerous. In fact, back in the ancient times, the city of Pompei was wiped out within days and the entire city was covered in a huge layer of ash." He didn't go into the details of how the bodies had been petrified in the same ash since that was a little too much detail for the young children.

Trencino then went over to the model and said. "The reason I brought this out is because I thought I would give you all a little treat. As you can see, I have baking soda here and vinegar over here. Now, I pour a bit of the baking soda into the volcano, followed by the vinegar and voila!" The chemical reaction was almost instant as the volcano began to overflow with 'lava', much to the amusement of all of the children, Aisha included. She knew that she would have to tell Kenichi about this first and foremost! It was simply too amazing to not place it as a priority reporting. The time to meet Kenichi again was soon to come since after the show was done, the bell began to ring throughout the school, signaling the end of the day. A cheer rose through the school as the teachers, Trencino included, dismissed the class. Gathering up her things, she headed out to make her reports. Hopefully Kenichi would like what she had to report!


	13. Chapter 13

The doors to the elementary school opened up to release the flood of cheering children, happy to finally be allowed to go back home to play. Among these children was Aisha, who was standing at the highest point of the stairs trying to find her handler Kenichi. Through the large group of parents, guardians and older siblings, Kenichi's face stood out instantly to the young cyborg, who had been specially trained for such things. If she couldn't pick out a familiar face, or the face of her target, out of a crowd then she wouldn't be much of an assassin. Smiling, she hopped down from the steps and made a beeline over to her handler, who scooped her up into his arms and said. "I hope you enjoyed your first day of school, Aisha. We can talk all about it in the car."

Aisha knew that he was just saying that as a cover for 'I'll receive your report in the privacy of the car', and giggled a little bit as she said. "Kay! I've got a whole lot to tell you Daddy!" She then wrapped him in a hug and enjoyed the affection as he hugged her back. Even if it was for a cover, she enjoyed the moment for all it was worth. Once they reached the car, Kenichi placed Aisha down on the ground and opened the door for her to go in before entering the drivers side. Once they were both buckled in and making their way out, Kenichi spoke up and asked. "What did you find out?" In truth he wasn't expecting much, this being her first encounter with him and all, but he trusted Aisha to have at least a small amount of information. Aisha had information that was important, but she wanted to have a little bit of fun reporting, so she said. "In Social Studies I learned a whole bunch! Did you know that Italy wasn't always whole? It used to be split into many different countries!"

Kenichi chuckled a little bit and decided to humor her by saying. "Oh yes, I learned that when I was in school." Aisha continued with her report by saying. "Well, did you also learn that not all of the people in some of the countries supported the Unification of Italy? Even now, there are people who would take great and drastic measures to see the country split once more." Kenichi's eyebrow raised a bit at this little piece of information. Since they had reached a red light, he looked over to her and asked. "Is that so? Do you think that our group of extremists believe the same?" Aisha nodded her head before saying. "I do. It's not concrete yet, but when I asked him if he thought that Italy should be separate, he took a while to think about it before saying he thought it would be 'interesting' if Italy was separate again, but it's not something that will happen for a while. He also threw in an 'if ever' as well, but I think he did that just to seem innocent."

Thinking hard about this new discovery, Kenichi was silent for a few minutes. Aisha took this time to look out the window and think about what she would be doing next. She had to discover more about Trencino and the kids didn't seem like much help. She would have to follow Trencino home and do some recon. Would he have guards in place? What kind of home did he have? She would have to find these things out before she made any further moves towards capturing him. A thought came to her and it made her grin. As she was about to voice her thoughts, Kenichi voiced his first. "I think this is a good lead, but we can't go too far with it. It could just be that Trencino as an individual believes that Italy should be separate. We need more solid proof.

Aisha took that as her key to speak up and said. "I have a plan for that! Tomorrow, I can go back to school as usual, but after school we can tail Trencino back to his home. After looking it over from the outside a little bit, we can leave for the day. After that, I'll take a sudden illness and have to miss school the next day. Trencino will be busy at school so it will leave his house wide open. We can look through his things at our leisure, provided that no one else lives there. If we can find more solid evidence in his house it would make things a lot easier right? Who knows, he might be a low rank but he might also have some good Intel."

Kenichi thought about her plan while turning into the main gates for the SWA. After showing his ID to the guards, he entered the compound and said. "That's a good idea. It will also be a good opportunity for you to get some experience in the field. I don't know how the others will feel about you being on your own though, so they might assign a partner to you for the recon." That was something that Aisha hadn't thought about. It would definitely be more effective if she had someone to look out for her but she didn't think that she needed it. She didn't voice her opinion though, since she could easily be overruled by the higher ups. It would be her first real recon mission after all and it was important that this succeeds without her being detected by anyone.

They finally reached the dorm parking lot, so Kenichi pulled in and parked in his space while thinking about what Aisha had reported. If the Blue Phoenix were really after the final goal of splitting Italy then they were a huge threat. He would have to report this information right away, while also letting them know that it could also be the ambition of Trencino alone. Sighing, he stepped out of his car and said to Aisha. "Great job today Aisha. Feel free to relax for the rest of the day. I'm going to talk to the bosses and tell them what you discovered. Who knows, you might get lucky enough to earn a solo recon. Don't hold me to that though." He chuckled a little bit and left for the main building. Once Aisha was out of the car she heard the familiar beeping of the lock and alarm setting into place.

Aisha didn't know what she should do at first, so she started to wander towards the dorm. It was only 1645 right now so dinner wouldn't be served for another hour or so and she didn't feel like going to the range. She was thinking more about the possibility of her getting to have her own solo recon mission. That would be really exciting and she hoped that she would be able to do it but something inside of her was also hoping that she could have the support as well. With support she would be able to cover more ground in the house and she knew that the other cyborgs were thorough in their searches so she had no doubts that they would find any important Intel, but the child in her wanted to be the one to find the Intel to make Kenichi proud of her. She didn't have the same relationship with her handler as Henrietta but she was still close enough to enjoy the praise that he gives.

She reached the entrance to the dorms and opened it up quietly so she didn't disturb the people in the rooms. Scanning the halls out of habit, she didn't spot anyone moving around though she could occasionally hear some noises in the rooms. Some of the girls were talking and laughing while others were talking about recent missions. The door ahead of her opened up and Rico walked out into the hall. She had a good bit of dust and dirt on her so it was obvious she had been training hard. Smiling, Aisha said. "Good afternoon Rico, you look like you were rolling around in the dirt for a while!" Rico smiled and turned to Aisha before saying. "Jean had me out training all day so it's no wonder." She seemed to have just taken in what Aisha was wearing since she giggled and said. "You look really cute wearing that uniform. Maybe you should wear it on your missions too since it suits you."

That comment made her blush and pout at the same time. She was even being picked on by Rico of all people! She could understand Triela and some of the older cyborgs but not Rico! Trying to defend her dignity, she said quickly. "N-no thanks. This is really tight and stuffy! I'll stick to my dresses and shorts!" Though she preferred dresses, she did wear shorts on occasion as well. Her response seemed to disappoint Rico, who said. "Aww, I thought it would look good. Oh well." Rico smiled again before saying. "So, how was your first mission at school?" Thankfully she didn't seem to tease her about it being first grade so she answered honestly. "It was pretty interesting. I learned some things that I didn't know before and I also got a possible lead on Blue Phoenix. It's not concrete right now, but in a few days I might be allowed to go out on a real recon mission, searching my targets house and all that!"

The two of them talked for a while until Aisha reached her room. Saying goodbye, she went in and set her backpack near the center table while looking around. She definitely had to change out of her uniform before other people commented on it and that's exactly what she did. Trading her uniform for a pair of red shorts and a white t-shirt, she fell on her bed and looked up at her ceiling. She would have to endure one more day of school before she could follow Trencino to his house, and then she would be able to do a real recon! While thinking about this, she dozed off into a light nap.


	14. Chapter 14

The rest of the night passed without any notable excitement. During her dinner, Aisha had eaten with her friends while enduring some teasing about her current mission. She didn't mind though, because in her mind she knew that this mission was definitely one of the more important ones and it was something that only she could do at the moment. It didn't make it any less embarrassing for the pint sized cyborg but she kept her spirits up by thinking of her possible recon mission. She couldn't wait until she would be able to actually infiltrate someone's house and perform recon, all without being caught or spotted. It was no doubt going to be a tough trial but she was sure that she would be able to pass it with flying colors!

Now in her room and dressed in her green one-piece footie pajamas, she slipped into the covers of her bed and closed her eyes. There was only one more day of school to endure and then she would be able to scope out Trencino's home. One more day of those annoying brats and then she would have her 'day off' to do some real mission work! Thinking about her first infiltration, she slowly fell into a deep sleep. She dreamed once more about the past that she had left behind. The loud noises, her young eyes staring at the bodies of her dead parents as she bled from her own gunshot wounds. The pain, the numbness, everything filled her body all at once. She woke up in a pool of her own sweat and she realized once more that she had been crying during the night for reasons unknown. Wiping her eyes with a nearby hankerchief, she shrugged her shoulders and looked at the nearby clock. It was almost time for her to wake up, but she had a good half-hour before that.

Getting up and out off bed, Aisha walked over to her dresser and opened the middle drawer, which held her HP MKIII. Kenichi had wanted her to stick with Fabrique Nationale weapons, much like Henrietta, because he felt that they would grow on her better than other, larger, weapons. He was against Aisha having her primary weapon being the FN F2000 but in the end her stubbornness, as well as actually proving she could handle the weapon on the range, led him to allow it. Picking up the handgun and bringing it over to her desk, she dropped the magazine down before pulling back the slide and watching as her loaded round popped out from within. Visually checking that it was now properly unloaded, she removed the upper assembly and placed the now seperate barrel on the table before taking out her cleaning equipment.

She cleaned her handgun happily and carefully, making sure that she was thorough in getting every bit of carbon out from the various parts. Kenichi, and the other handlers as well, were all firm on keeping their weapons properly maintained so that it would work properly on the field and on the range. She worked diligantly and by the time her alarm went off, she had already cleaned the entire weapon and reassembled it back to it's normal operating state. A quick and successful functions check later, she put her loose round back in the magazine before sliding it home in the well. She knew better than to take any chances, so she cocked the slide back and chambered a round, just in case. Putting the weapon back in its drawer, Aisha wondered just what would happen today in school.

No doubt she would have to hold herself back in terms of showing how advanced she was for her age since she didn't want to be put into a seperate class. Something like that happening would ruin everything. She was already scolding herself for yesterday, where she had answered many of the questions much too easily. Today, she would try not to stick out, and would only speak if she was called for. It might seem like a change of attitude, but she could dismiss it as her just not wanting to take all the spotlight for herself. The last thing she wanted was to stand out in the class. Not only would it bring attention to her, but it would also keep her from simply observing her target. There was a lot to learn about a person if you just looked at them. Did they have a limp, did they seem to favor one arm over the other? Physical fitness was also something to consider when watching someone. She could go toe to toe with the average joe, but she would have trouble against someone trained to fight hand to hand.

After getting dressed in her uniform, she took a quick look at her self in the mirror, just to make sure that everything was correctly in place. Once she confirmed that her uniform was straight, she checked the time once more. It was almost time to head out. Almost on cue, there was a knock on the door and Kenichi let himself in before saying. "Let's get to the parking lot, I've got some things to tell you along the way." This was a surprise for Aisha but she figured it had something to with her mission. She really hoped that she would be allowed to go solo!

The two of them left the room after Aisha gathered up her bag and slung it on her back. As they walked down the hall, Kenichi began to talk. "I've spoken with Jean about your idea and he believes that your possible lead should definitely be given a looking into. He's also approved of your plan to call in sick tomorrow, which will give you time to investigate his home, which we'll discover today after school. I don't think I have to remind you to be careful around him today but I'm going to anyways. He might seem nice but he's a terrorist in the end."

Aisha nodded her head and thought about what she had just been told. She was going to be doing the investigating right? Or would they send another operative in after her? Almost as if he read her mind, Kenichi said with a small chuckle. "You're probably worried about who's going to be doing the investigation right? It's written all over your face." He opened the door to allow the now blushing Aisha to step outside first before continuing. "I was asked whether or not I believed you could handle a solo sneaking mission, and I said yes." Aisha looked up at him with an obvious hope in her eyes, which was confirmed by Kenichi saying. "You'll be allowed this mission, but you'll have to be extremely careful. Depending on the location of his home, there's a chance that you could be spotted entering, but you can easily play it off as if you were innocently looking to see if the owner was in, or you got the apartment numbers mixed up."

Aisha was practically beaming as they walked through the parking lot and over to Kenichi's car. She knew that the investigation would be risky but this was something that she had been training for. She was going to show them all that they would be able to rely on her for support in a mission. This was just an investigation but one day she was going to be going to combat and she would prove herself to be a capable partner. Letting herself into the car after Kenichi unlocked it, she settled in and buckled up before saying to Kenichi as he entered as well. "I can't wait until we can go investigate his house. I bet it's going to be filled with intelligence!" Kenichi smiled before saying with a small tease in his voice. "Of course there will be intelligence, he's a teacher. Can you imagine how many papers and books he has to have in there?" This made Aisha pout a little bit before saying. "Y-you know what I meant!"

They began their drive to the school and on the way, Aisha voiced her concerns about possible pets in the home. "I know that I'll be entering his house alone, but there's always the chance that he could have a pet, or even a trained guard dog. If I kill the pet, he'll surely become suspicious." Kenichi thought about this problem, and came up with a viable solution. "Well, if you have no choice but to kill the pet in self defense, we can always revise the mission and capture Trencino when he comes home from work. We'll send in back-up if that's the case, just remember to alert us if anything goes wrong." Aisha nodded her head while hoping that it wouldn't have to come to that. She really liked animals after all, and didn't want to have to hurt one if she could help it.

The rest of the trip was passed in silence, save for Aisha sneezing once because some dust tickled her nose. When they reached the school, she hopped out and put on her backpack before giving her 'daddy' a nice hug and saying. "I'll try to gather even more information today! I'll ask him if he has any pets too. He shouldn't be suspicious about something like that right?" Kenichi didn't think it was suspicious at all, and encouraged her to ask while waving goodbye to his 'daughter'. Aisha was met by some of the kids from yesterday, and together they all went into the school while talking about what they were going to be doing today. They all had different ideas but the general fear was that they were going to get a pop quiz in one subject or another.

Once they were all in their seats, they talked amongst themselves until the bell rung and signalled the start of the school day. She knew that it was time for the announcements, and hoped that she would be able to keep herself as hidden as possible today, since she didn't want to attract attention. During the announcements, Trencino announced that they would indeed be having a test in both spelling and math, which got some groans from the other kids. The test wasn't all that hard though, and even Aisha knew that these were the basics, so getting a hundred would be pretty normal. In fact, almost all of the children got hundreds on the test. After that came their bathroom break, as well as snack time. She happily ate the chocolate chip muffins that were handed out. Next came the Math test, which challenged a lot of the kids but Aisha knew that she could easily get a hundred. She made a few 'mistakes' though, as to give her only an eighty-five, pretty good but not attention-worthy. Much to her disappointment, she had been called to read for the Read-Aloud time, but after that she managed to stay under the radar.

During their second bathroom break, Aisha had managed to get a scolding for chasing after one of the boys down the hall. What the teacher hadn't seen though, was the boy lifting her skirt and showing the world her panties, which had set Aisha to give chase with all intentions of pummeling him, had she not been stopped. Luckily she had been allowed to go to lunch, and not the principals office. Lunch was much less exciting than yesterday and she happily ate her deli meat sandwich in peace. During Recess, she had actually managed to slip under the radar of the kids playing tag long enough to ask Trencino some innocent questions, as well as if he had any pets or not. She was greatly relieved to hear that he had no pets, but wished he could have a cat. Aisha thought that it suited him, since all evil people had cats didn't they? She didn't voice that last part of course. After her questions, she was spotted and dragged into yet another game of tag.

During Phys Ed, they all enjoyed running laps around the gym a few times before being allowed free time. Aisha spent this time practicing her Chinese Kenpo, which unfortunately attracted attention, but not the negative kind either. Trencino actually praised her for learning self defense, since it was something that would only help her during her life. She didn't need to hear that from him, since she would likely be using it on him soon, but it did feel good to know that Kenichi had taught her a good way of self defense. The next class was Social Studies, and she learned more about the time when Italy was split into different nations. She didn't ask any questions this time, but she was asked a few of her own, which she answered correctly to show that she was paying attention. Her last period was Science and she learned about more landforms and how to spot each type. They were even asked to look out the window and identify as many as they could.

Finally though, the end-of-school bell rang loudly through the school, and all were released to their parents. Aisha quickly found Kenichi and gave him a hug before getting into the car. Teachers always stood after school late, so it was a good couple of hours of hiding out before they spotted Trencino heading to his car. Once he pulled out of the driveway, the chase began.


	15. Chapter 15

Aisha was more than a little excited as Kenichi pulled out of the school parking lot to pursue Trencino. She had been told by the other cyborgs that Kenichi had been one of the better drivers of the SWA, and knew all of the best tricks when it came to following people. It must have come from his background of being a Private Investigator before being recruited into the Agency for his talents. He had put more than a few high profile criminals behind bars during his prime, while at the same time remaining completely unknown to the one he was pursuing. To Kenichi, this was more than a game of cat and mouse, this was a hunt of the highest level and he wouldn't allow anything to get in his way.

From her seat, Aisha could barely see out the window, which annoyed her to no end since compared to other cars, Kenichi's Fiat Barchetta was by no means a large car. Having to stretch her neck a little bit, she could clearly see Trencino's blue Alfa 159 a few cars ahead of them. He didn't seem to know that he was being followed since he was still driving casually. This made her grin a little bit, since they had been following him for the past fifteen minutes. A Barchetta wasn't all too common either, so one being in the rear view every now and then should have at least set off some alarms. Shrugging, she simply thought of it as Trencino leading himself into their trap. Of course that trap had yet to be set, but that was for the future. As soon as they figured out where he lived, they would definitely be able to set up a good trap.

They started to get deeper into the center of Rome, and with the narrow roads it was getting hard to follow him while also staying a few cars behind him. Kenichi had managed though, and soon their patience paid off. Trencino turned into a driveway of an old looking house, though it was obviously remodeled to accomodate the modern man. Taking a good look at it, Kenichi decided to test out Aisha by asking. "Aisha, what can you tell me about this house?"

Aisha looked at the house with serious eyes before saying. "Well, from what I can see from here, it's a two story building with at least six to ten windows, separate from the others, with two alleys running on each side of it. The door looks pretty normal in front, and the windows are definitely simple glass. It also looks really old."

She noticed something in the alley to the left of the house and nodded her head before continuing her observation. "It also has a basement, since it has a cellar door in the alley there." She seemed to think for a moment before saying. "From the outside it looks pretty normal, but that's to be expected huh? You can't exactly expect them to hang a 'terrorist living here' sign. Getting in should be simple."

Kenichi nodded his head, and though he didn't say it out loud, he was proud that she had taken in his observational habits. It was something that he had tried to drill into her ever since he chose her as a Cyborg. Being able to take in all of the details of a place within a matter of seconds was critical if you wanted to get anywhere in the PI world. He didn't like that she assumed getting in would be easy, but he didn't scold her for it either. From his own, more expert eye, it seemed that it really would be simple.

Trencino had exited his car and walked to the front door. After producing a key, he unlocked the door and opened it up. At this point Aisha focused all of her attention on the door, and from what she could see, it looked fairly average on the inside as well. There was a bookshelf along the back wall, a stairway leading up to the second floor, a kitchen area in the back, through a doorway in the back wall, and a few pieces of furniture. More importantly though, she didn't notice any pets, or signs of one. She thought that a dog would at least greet its Master at the door, so she smiled and said. "It looks like he might not have any pets, or at least no dogs to worry about." When the door closed, Aisha closed her eyes and cupped her ears towards it and heard the familiar click of a lock setting. Letting out a small sigh, she told Kenichi. "He locked the door. Is that normal?"

Kenichi nodded his head to answer Aisha's question before saying. "It's pretty common, especially in most urban towns. It's also a good sign that he's either secretive, or protective of whatever he has inside there. If he has any intel, it definitely wouldn't be in plain view from the front or back." He seemed to think for a moment before looking around the general neighborhood. "It doesn't look like there are many people living around here. The houses to his left and right are all convienently boarded up and abandoned. Definitely suspicious."

Aisha smiled up at her Handler. She could tell that his investigator blood was starting to boil once more, but it would be her that handled the infiltration wouldn't it? She certainly hoped so, but she wouldn't complain if Kenichi helped her out with her first infil mission either. They had to work well as a team after all. Bringing her attention back to the building, she said. "I think it would be best to go in through the basement and work my way up from there. It would be easy to get spotted by passing traffic if I used the front, but I would have less of a chance of that if I used the cellar door."

Kenichi thought about this for a moment before nodding his head and saying. "I agree that going in from the cellar would be the best option if we were doing this op alone, but if we're given backup from the others, it would be a simple matter of closing off the road due to an 'accident'. That way at least bystanders would be taken care of. We can also take down the address and look up the floor plan. Something like that should be simple enough. I'm just worried about any kinds of modifications he might have added that aren't on the floor plan. I wouldn't be surprised if he even had a few hidden cameras installed."

Aisha gulped at that thought. If she couldn't see the cameras then that would be a lot of trouble for her. But then she got an idea and said. "What if we turned off the power? Wouldn't that work?" It sounded like a good idea to her. If the power was shut down then the cameras would go out as well!

Unfortunately, Kenichi shook his head and said. "I wish it were that simple, but much like a laptop, there are many kinds of hidden cameras that work on their own independent batteries. They wouldn't be very hidden if they had a cord attached to them after all." He closed his eyes and had a frown on his face, his traditional 'thinking face'.

It seemed like an eternity before he nodded his head and said. "I think the only way to successfully counter the cameras would be to give them nothing to work with. We'll give you a traditional 'sneaking suit', one that covers up every part of your body, including your eyes, and with a few modifications to it, it can also make you look much larger than how you are now. It's fairly simple, but effective for keeping your identity hidden. Enough of that though, let's head out before someone thinks we're suspicious." He started down the road, heading back for the SWA, while Aisha gave one last look at the house. She would definitely get into that house. She would definitely find something in there.


	16. Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16

The rest of the night continued as normal. Aisha had dinner with the other cyborgs, with the light hearted teasing and playing that usually accompanied it, and after that she took a hot bath before changing into her pajamas for the night. She would be unarmed for the mission tomorrow but she made it a habit of cleaning her weapons, starting with her F2000. It had been cleaned prior to her going to the range, but she gave it a quick once-over either way. It had to be in top condition for the future after all. Her sidearm, the MP Mk III, was cleaned next. Despite being a sidearm, she used this weapon more often because of its small size.

She was proficient with her F2000 but even after being downsized for her by a professional gunsmith, it was still a good size compared to her small body. By hugging the weapon under her armpit, she can shoot it with deadly accuracy up to 75 meters, on the move, but when firing from the shoulder, as Kenichi has taken to prefer of her, she is only able to hit 50 meters while moving. She is getting better though, and will likely reach a higher range within a few months. She wouldn't have much time at the range for a while though, because of her current mission, so that may set her shoulder-firing training back a small bit but she didn't mind, since this mission came first.

As she wiped the internals of her handgun down with a cloth, Aisha smiled and said to herself. "My first infiltration is tomorrow. You'll be coming with me, but I won't be allowed to bring you into the house. You'll be waiting with Kenichi, in case anything happens. I don't think anything will go wrong though. Kenichi is making sure that nothing will go wrong." During dinner, she had overheard one of the other agents saying that they were going to be steaking out a house in the middle of nowhere until being relieved in the morning, so she had a feeling her handler had requested an overnight team be placed at Trencino's house to confirm his departure before their arrival. This would ensure that they would have no hang-ups in the morning, when Aisha entered the building.

Finishing up the cleaning, she reassembled her handgun and set it on her dresser next to her bed. She always kept it nearby, just in case something ever happened. It wasn't likely, but she still had to be prepared for the worst. Laying down in her bed, she pulled the warm covers over her and looked to her ceiling for a moment before saying with a smile on her face. "Goodnight everyone, I'll be seeing my first real infiltration in the morning. Wish me luck." Without a response, she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

The same dream came to her that night, just as it did every night. She awoke in a fluffy bed hearing strange sounds in her parent's room. Curious, she left her bed and made her way to see what was happening. Silence filled the hallway after some strange noises, and as she opened the door, she could feel a burning in her body. Everything grew hot, followed by a freezing cold. With a gasp, Aisha awoke that morning and while panting, she tried to grab a hold of the dream but just as always it escaped her. Shaking her head, she decided to let it go. She was here, and she was awake, so it was time to get ready for her mission.

It was currently 0430, and the sun had yet to rise into the sky yet. Aisha had planned on getting up early so they could leave for Trencino's house just as he was leaving for work. Taking off her blue one-piece footie pajamas, she stood in front of the closet in just her light blue panties, which had little pink hearts on them. Despite being a cyborg, and a trained killer, she still had a love for printed underwear. Looking inside the closet, she spotted a new outfit that hadn't been there previously, and had been delivered to her room during her bath by Kenichi.

It was a black full-body suit that was meant to be comfortable for the wearer on the inside, while completely changing their form on the outside. Added padding in key places would make the wearer seem larger than reality, and large soles at the feet would add a few inches to the wearers height, making them taller than they appeared as well. Attached at the head was a hood that pulls over the head fully, and zips around the collar so that no part of the head or face could be seen, while the wearer can see through the cloth as if wearing sunglasses. Padding was provided in the hood for extra mass as well. Because the padding was only added in key areas, and not throughout the entire suit, her mobility wouldn't be held back and she would be able to move as if wearing nothing at all, which she might as well be considering she was only going to be wearing her underwear underneath. On the outside of the suit at the waist, there was a small pouch that held a multi-tool, lock pick and a small flashlight, making it perfect for an infiltration such as this.

It only took her a few moments to put the suit on and much to her satisfaction, Kenichi had picked out the perfect size for her. Of course, it had been made especially for her a while ago due to her 'unique' stature, but Aisha was unaware of that part. A knock on her door signalled the presence of her handler, and quickly moving to the center of her room, she stood at attention as always and asked her handler to enter. After opening the door and assessing the small, but not as small as before, form in front of him, Kenichi nodded his head in approval before saying. "It's time to see just what our little mouse is hiding in his hole. Let's go." He made sure that Aisha picked up her sidearm before leading the young cyborg to his car.

The drive to the outskirts of Trencino's neighborhood was uneventful, and as they drove to the rendezvous point for the lookout team Kenichi briefed his young charge on the situation. "Trencino should have left already to go to your school, but we're meeting with the overnight team to make sure of it. They'll also give us any information that could be useful to us. Any animal sounds, people going in and out, things like that. Knowing these pieces of information will be invaluable to you, so make sure to listen closely." Aisha nodded her head to show she understood her expectations.

They met with the rendezvous team in a lot just outside of Trencino's neighborhood. It was in a secluded area, so there was no worries of a random passerby overhearing or seeing them. The first agent briefed the two. "Trencino has departed his house for work and we believe the house to be empty. There were no guests during the night, but he did depart his house at roughly 1930. He returned thirty minutes later carrying a take-out bag, probably leftovers from his dinner. His windows have been closed and curtained all day and night, so we couldn't see into his home, other then the hallway that leads to the front door. We've confirmed that he makes sure all windows and doors are locked prior to leaving, so you'll need to pick your way in."

The second agent gave a small yawn during the briefing and after it was concluded, Kenichi nodded his head and said. "Thank you, you did a good job. Leave the rest to us and get some sleep." The two agents departed to gather their equipment while Kenichi and Aisha returned to their car. Once they were in, he said. "So that's the situation. We know very little of the interior so it's important that you be very careful while moving around. I'll be parked in the abandoned lot next door, so if you need anything just radio for me." He held out an earphone radio for her, which she quickly put into her ear and tested before pulling her hood over her head and zipping it into the collar.

Kenichi drove up in front of Trencino's house and made sure that there was no traffic before giving Aisha the signal to depart. Once the signal was given, she quickly exited the car and made a dash for the door. With practiced movements, she recieved the lockpick found in her pouch and worked at the handle of the front door. It took no more than ten seconds for her to work the lock and less than three for her to get the door opened, entering the house, and closed once more. Letting out a small sigh, she said in a whisper. "I've entered the house, starting investigation now." Kenichi came back to her with a disapproving tone in his voice. "That took you too long, we'll have to work on your picking after this."

That made Aisha wince a little bit, because she knew that he would be drilling her over and over until she could meet with his approval time. That would be later though, right now she had to focus on the mission at hand. The hallway was nothing special, only a bookshelf along the wall and some framed art kept it from being completely bare. Directly in front of her she could see the kitchen area and to her right, she saw a staircase leading up to the second story with numerous pictures along the wall. Her first decision was to investigate the bookshelf. While it was unlikely, she couldn't pass the chance to see if there was information to be found.

During her check of the bookshelf, which contained mostly old literature and biographies, she heard something from upstairs. Immediately taking cover along the stairway wall, she could hear the sounds of steps above her. Because of the clicking sound that followed each step, she immediately ruled out a human. In her radio, she whispered. "I believe there's a dog upstairs, what should I do if it comes after me?" Kenichi's response followed a few seconds later. "We cannot leave any evidence of our search behind. If you have to engage the dog, do not kill it. Put it to sleep or gain its trust, but under no circumstances are you to kill it or injure it in a way that would alert Trencino to their being an intruder recently." Aisha nodded her head and responded her confirmation and understanding before moving into the living room.

The furniture in the living room was definitely impressive, and most of it was made out of solid mahogany. It was definitely something that raised an eyebrow or two since the craftsmanship was definitely something that was above the average teacher's salary. Taking note of this, she checked out a few more bookshelves but found nothing out of the ordinary once more. Thinking that she would leave the kitchen for last before exiting, she moved for a door that would lead down into the basement.

As she moved down the stairs, she could hear barking from upstairs, as well as a scratching sound. The dog was likely closed inside a room and was trying to get out. Not worried, she continued downstairs. It was fairly dark in the basement, so she had to turn on the light to see comfortably. Looking around from the bottom of the stairs, she could see that it was fairly organized, with cardboard boxes and miscellaneous furniture. Wanting to be thorough in her search, she moved to one of the boxes and carefully opened it up to find that it was simply filled with old clothes. Further searches gave similar results, and as Aisha closed up the final box, she said with a pout on her face. "Nothing down here in the basement. I'm going to head upstairs and see if there's anything to find."

Aisha had been trying to keep an ear out for the dog during her basement search, but when she reached the top of the basement stairs and turned for the hallway, she saw a growling German Shepherd of roughly five years at the end. Upon seeing her, the Shepherd gave a loud bark before charging, which made Aisha squeak a little bit in fear. She had never had training against a dog before, especially in hand to hand combat. In the short seconds between her making impact with the dog, she quickly assessed her priorities. Avoiding tooth and fang were critical to her survival, but she also had to take the large dog down without killing or injuring it.

The dog lept high for Aisha, so the small girl used this chance to bend low before jumping forward and under the dog. Rolling on the ground before getting back to a stable base, she turned to find the dog tackling her in the abdomen. Forced back to the ground, Aisha knew that she was in trouble, but she kept her limbs close to her to avoid the dog's teeth, which were trying to grab a hold of her ankles. Jumping up and back into a standing position, Aisha waited for the dog to leap at her once more and when it did, she quickly ducked under before grabbing a hold of the dog's fur. With a small shout, she used her strength to slam the larger dog onto the floor on its back. The dog let out a yelp of pain before Aisha released it and went for its side as it tried to get back up.

Once it was back at a standing base, Aisha took the risk of jumping onto its back. The risk was worth it, and Aisha soon found herself holding onto the dog as it tried to turn and get a hold of her. She wasn't about to let it, however, and she quickly wrapped her arm around the dogs neck. Applying pressure, she held on tight until the dog began to lose consciousness. Not taking any chances, she continued the hold until she was sure the dog was out and lying limp on the floor. A quick check of its pulse confirmed that it still had life, and a quick once-over of her own body showed that while she had a few scratches and tears in the suit, she had no worrying wounds.

Knowing that she only had a short time before the dog woke up, she hurried up the stairs and entered the room that the dog wsa guarding. Inside, it appeared to be a study, with a few bookshelves along the walls and a large wood desk near the closed window. Moving over to the desk to see what was hidden by the backboard, she grinned when she saw a fairly new looking computer. To herself, she said. "Jackpot. Let's see what kind of secrets it holds." She was worried about password protection, but whether it was from arrogance or simply having nothing to hide, she found that it was only in sleep mode, and a quick shake of the mouse brought her straight to the desktop.

Giggling to herself in anticipation, she worked her way through the computer until she could access his email account. Logging on, she went through his mail, which consisted mostly of messages to other teachers, as well as some students for assistance, but what really caught her attention was an email that stood out from the others, and it was sent only a few days ago. The message read: WE'RE GOING TO NEED YOU SOON, SO PUT IN FOR VACATION OR WHATEVER YOU DO IN THAT JOB OF YOURS. WE'LL MEET YOU AT THE USUAL PLACE IN THREE DAYS. REMEMBER, IF YOU DON'T WANT ANYTHING TO HAPPEN TO THAT PRECIOUS SCHOOL OF YOURS, YOU'LL LISTEN TO US. -RM

This shocked Aisha more than she thought it would. She had been prepared to see almost anything in the form of intel, but it seemed like Trencino himself was being blackmailed by the group. What could he have that they would want so bad that they would threaten the school for? Also, from the reciept of the email, three days meant that he would be leaving tomorrow. Further emails of similar subjects revealed that he was well versed in creating poisons, but stopped after what she could only understand as 'the incident.'

Believing that this was sufficient intelligence, she returned the computer back to where it was left at and quickly hurried outside, where Kenichi was waiting to pick her up. Only when she was in his car did she let out a sigh of relief and say. "I found out some good intel, but something is strange. It looks like Trencino is being blackmailed into working with the Phoenix, and that he's good at making poisons. Who could they want to poison, and how? I think we'll be able to find out tomorrow. If we follow Trencino from his house to this 'usual place', we should find out more."

Kenichi nodded his head, understanding what she had found out, and said to the young girl with a smirk. "Good work in there. Providing that the dog is still alive.." A nod from Aisha answered that question. "We should find out just what their next goal is, and just how we're going to stop them. Just one thing, however."

Aisha looked curiously to Kenichi and asked. "What is it? Did I miss something?" Kenichi shook his head and said simply. "I just wouldn't wear hearts tomorrow, or else Trencino might connect you to this infiltration." Confused, Aisha gave herself another lookover before squeaking in embarrassment. The dog had torn a good chunk from the suit in the rear, enough so that a small bit of her hearted panties had been exposed the whole time. If he had any hidden cameras in his house, they would have caught them for sure! Blushing furiously and looking down, all Aisha could respond with was a quick. "Yes, sir."


End file.
